Chapter 33

“My daughter is mine, but she’s such an angel!”

“She really might be an angel.”

“What should I do, I want to give her a present too, but I don’t even have time to go into town…”

“…Then should I buy a present for Boni on my way back?”

At Dean’s suggestion, Reina’s eyes widened.

“T-That would be too much.”

“No. I wanted to give Boni a Star’s Birthday present anyway, so I’ll just get it while I’m at it.”

If Dean bought something, it wouldn’t be candy or chocolate, so Reina felt flustered.

“I won’t buy anything expensive.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I promise.”

Noticing exactly what Reina was worried and suspicious about, Dean smiled gently and reassured her.

But that kind and harmless smile only made her more uneasy.

“…If it’s too expensive, I won’t accept it.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

Reina stared at Dean with all her might.

As they chatted softly, they soon arrived at the room.

Reina took the belongings from Dean and opened the door. The room was completely quiet.

“Boni?”

‘Is she asleep?’

Last time, Boni had fallen asleep while waiting for her.

The time before that, she’d hidden quietly to surprise her.

“Boni? Where are you?”

Reina checked the bathroom and the toilet, then looked under the bed and inside the wardrobe.

She didn’t forget to check behind the door either.

‘Has she not come back yet?’

But from what Dean had said, Bonita had left earlier than him.

“Reina? Is something wrong?”

Dean, who was still lingering near the door, called out to her.

“Oh, no. Sir Dean, you can go back.”

“Alright. If anything happens, please come find me.”

“Thank you, as always.”

For a moment, the thought of another kidnapping crossed her mind, but there was no reason to kidnap Bonita now.

And after the last kidnapping, Bonita never wandered off on her own. At the very least, she always told an adult where she was going.

‘And I can’t keep leaving her with Sofia either.’

To be precise, Bonita did like Sofia, just not enough to spend long stretches of time together.

Sofia’s personality was rather peculiar, so maybe Bonita found that uncomfortable.

Or maybe the estate was simply too big and all the doors looked the same, and she got lost.

Just as Reina turned around to go look for Bonita, something strange caught her eye on the floor.

“…This is.”

On the table lay a very high quality black jacket, neatly tied like a wrapping cloth.

“…?”

When Reina untied the knot, snacks spilled out from both sides.

“Why is this…?”

She picked up the candy that had fallen to the floor and spread the jacket out.

“This is definitely my lord’s jacket…”

Why was it being used to wrap snacks like this? Reina couldn’t even imagine that Damian had used his jacket to carry Bonita’s snacks.

With a puzzled expression, jacket cradled in her arms, Reina stepped into the corridor. Then she noticed a black dot in the sky.

That black dot shot upward, then dropped with a thump, then shot up again.

“Huh?”

Watching the repeated motion, Reina’s eyes widened as she rushed to the window.

“B-B-B-Boni?!”

Realizing that the black dot was her daughter, Reina’s face went pale. Forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to run in the corridor, she dashed outside.

“Boni!”

As Reina ran out in panic, she saw Damian standing alone, looking up at the sky.

“M-My lord! Boni, Boni…!!”

Just as Reina tried to shout at Damian in desperation, Damian moved at monstrous speed.

“…!”

He stopped precisely a few steps away from Reina and caught Bonita securely in his arms.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“It was super fun!”

Bonita’s hair was completely tousled from being thrown into the air so many times. Watching Bonita hug Damian tightly with a bright smile, Reina stood frozen.

“…”

“…Mom?”

Only then did Bonita notice Reina nearby and widen her eyes.

Damian also looked at Reina with a puzzled expression.

“…Both of you.”

Reina clenched the jacket in her hand and shouted.

“What are you two doing, something so dangerous?!”

* * *

“Sofia, what are you doing here?”

One of the maids close to Reina spotted Sofia wandering alone.

Recently, since Reina had been busy, she thought Sofia was taking care of Bonita, but there wasn’t even a shadow of the child near her.

“Boni said she didn’t need me.”

“Really? That’s strange.”

She didn’t think Bonita liked being alone that much, and tilted her head.

“She probably went to the training grounds again today. For a girl, she sure likes swords.”

“That is unusual…”

They chatted softly about how the young lady seemed to be improving lately, and how Bonita’s curiosity about swords was probably just because she was young.

Then the maids turned their heads at a strange feeling.

“…What are you staring at?”

“No, look over there.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the garden by the main gate.

More precisely, they were all looking at the people standing in the garden.

* * *

Reina, pale faced, snatched Bonita into her arms.

Both Bonita and Damian looked at Reina in confusion.

“Mom, what’s wrong? Huh?”

“I really…”

Reina trembled as she shouted at Damian.

“What would you have done if something happened?!”

“I did it knowing it was safe.”

The aura that had been unstable for a while after being excessively released when he went to rescue Bonita had recently stabilized again.

“In normal circumstances it would’ve been dangerous, but I used aura to ensure it was completely safe. And Bonita asked me to.”

“Even if a child asks, if it’s dangerous, an adult has to say no!”

“…”

“If a child asks, are you just going to do anything?! No matter how amazing you are, you could still make a mistake!”

“Th-That… I’m sorry.”

Damian had nothing more to say.

Reina wasn’t wrong, and in the first place, Bonita’s guardian was Reina.

More than anything, he’d never seen Reina this angry before. In front of him, she was always cautious, on the verge of tears, already crying, or wearing a gentle expression.

A commoner maid scolding an imperial duke made no sense.

And yet, Damian lowered his head deeply and accepted Reina’s anger.

Compared to Reina, his massive body looked strangely small in that moment.

“M-Mom?”

Reina hugged Bonita tightly.

‘Seriously, what if something happened.’

Bonita was Reina’s only family.

Whether she was the real Reina or not, Bonita loved her and proved her existence.

If Bonita died because of her own mistake, Reina felt she’d never be able to forgive herself.

Bonita was the life left behind by the previous Reina, the precious child she’d been entrusted with from that day on… her daughter.

Even knowing Damian wouldn’t make a mistake, the what if was terrifying.

‘Really… what if something happened…’

Bonita murmured softly toward Reina, who was holding her tight and not looking at her.

“Mom… are you mad?”

Reina had never gotten angry, not when Bonita was picky with food, not when she accidentally scribbled somewhere she shouldn’t, not even when she’d been kidnapped after sneaking off to the training grounds.

It was the first time Bonita had seen Reina with such a stiff face, bristling with anger, and she didn’t know what to do.

“Reina Botn.”

“…Yes.”

“Let the child down first before we talk. She can’t breathe.”

Damian looked at Bonita, whose face was gradually turning pale.

Of course, he knew it wasn’t fear that was making her face pale.

“Ah, B-Boni. You can’t breathe? I’m sorry. Mom got startled…”

“Mmm, I’m okay.”

“I’ll put you down.”

He didn’t say anything more, not wanting to make things awkward between them.

‘Those two are always tiptoeing around each other.’

Reina had once told Damian that she and Estelle seemed to be mutually pining.

But to Damian, it looked more like Reina and Bonita were the ones mutually pining.

Bonita was set down, but she couldn’t even grab Reina’s hem, only fidgeting her hands in the air.

“Bonita, I need to talk with Reina Botn, so can you go back to the room?”

“The room…”

Bonita had gotten lost trying to go there before.

Judging by the atmosphere, she knew she should step away, but she wasn’t confident she wouldn’t get lost again.

Noticing her hesitation, the two adults crouched to her height at the same time.

Reina asked,

“Do you not want to go alone?”

“Hmmm.”

Bonita shook her head. Damian asked,

“Have you not memorized the way yet?”

Bonita stayed silent for a moment, then nodded.

Reina and Damian exchanged a brief look and reached a conclusion.

“Boni, then Mom will take you to the room.”

“I’ll go too. That’s more efficient.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“Mom, you weren’t mad?”

“I wasn’t mad.”

Only then did Bonita’s expression brighten like a flower in bloom.